Kneel at the Place Where Jesus Died

Located within the walls of the Old City, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, was built on the site most Christians believe to be the Hill of Calvary. According to the New Testament, this was where Jesus was crucified and buried hence the name Sepulcher – a type of burial chamber carved out of rock. This is also believed to be the location where Christ was resurrected and has been a place of pilgrimage for Christians since the 4th century. Today it also serves as the headquarters of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, while control of the building is shared between several Christian churches and secular entities in complicated arrangements essentially unchanged for centuries.

Early Christians held celebrations at the Tomb of Christ from the time of his resurrection until the city was taken over by the Romans in 66AD. In 135AD, Emperor Hadrian built a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and the site became a place of pagan worship until 312AD when Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and decided to build churches on sacred sites throughout the Holy Land. The Temple of Aphrodite was destroyed and construction of the Holy Sepulcher began in 326AD. During excavations, the Rock of Golgotha (the rock on which Jesus hung on the cross) was purportedly found.

Some say that Constantine’s mother St. Helena discovered the three crosses used to crucify Jesus and the two criminals near the tomb. In order to identify the True Cross (the one Jesus was on) legend has it that a sick man was brought in to touch each one and was miraculously healed when he touched the one belonging to Christ. A chapel was built on the site where the cross was found but unfortunately over the years, pilgrims took pieces of the cross home as souvenirs and now they are scattered all over the world. Many churches have slivers of what they claim to be the True Cross.

Over the years the church has been destroyed by riots, invaders, fire and an earthquake and has been rebuilt and renovated numerous times to become what it is today. A number of different religions including Easter Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox share custody of the church each with their own chapels.

Some of the Key Areas to Observe are:

The Anointing Stone – Upon entering the church you will notice people kneeling down to kiss a large slab of stone. That is the Stone of Unction or the Anointing Stone, a limestone slab installed in 1808 to commemorate the place where Jesus was anointed for burial after being removed from the cross. Some believe this to be the 13th station of the cross.Chapel of the Nailing of the Cross – When you walk up a set of stairs you will enter a chapel believed to be located on the spot where Jesus was nailed to the cross. This Franciscan Chapel, and 11th Station of the Cross, features a mosaic of Jesus being nailed to the cross.

The Rock of the Calvary – To the left of the Franciscan Chapel is the Rock of the Calvary is the 12th Station of the Cross where Jesus was crucified. A huge altar built by the Greek Orthodox Church covers the hole in the rock where it is believed the cross was raised. A huge line of people are often waiting to pray under the altar and place their hand in the hole.

The Tomb of Christ – Back downstairs you walk past a window where you can see the crack in the Rock of Calvary that is believed to be caused by the earthquake that occurred when Jesus died. From there you can enter another large room called the Rotunda that contains the Holy Sepulchre Chapel and 14th Station of the Cross. People often wait in line to see the Angel’s Stone (a fragment of stone believed to have sealed Jesus’ tomb) and enter the tomb itself.

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The hole under the altar is believe to be where the Jesus' cross stood